… “I think men are more aware than women of their tendency to sin,” one of the men suggested. “Maybe they can use this wisdom to help guide their wives.”

I couldn’t believe this was being discussed as a legitimate idea.

“Don’t they understand?” I said [to my husband]. “These sort of misconceptions—the idea that Christianity subjugates women—drive people away from the church.”

I wondered what he thought was so clear—that women bear a greater burden for the fall of man? “If I wasn’t a Christian,” I said, “these comments about women would turn me away from God.”

I wanted to deconstruct the ideas that were chipping away at my confidence in the Creator, but I felt outmatched. Among the men in our group, conversations often felt like a Scripture-quoting duel. Each time a new passage was referenced, I had the same question: What’s the context? Their response was nearly always a puzzled look. It was as if I’d just suggested we tear out pages from our Bibles and fold them into paper airplanes. Scripture, they reminded me, is inerrant.

This woman is starting to see sense. You can almost feel the warmth of the light bulb glowing brightly above her head.

Could this be the birth of a feminist? A liberated woman who realizes her entire religion has been anti-woman for 2000+ years? Maybe she could actually re-consider her belief in a god who would use authors with misogynistic values to be its voice?

But no. She can’t doubt god or the Bible. She has to pound the square peg into the round hole any way she can. So she goes looking for a comforting justification for the sexist teachings in her holy book.

Just Rationalize It!

The author then quotes what she found to be an encouraging thought:

“Many people run from any consideration of the Bible once they find such a biblical passage. I counsel them instead to slow down and try out several different perspectives on the issues that trouble them. That way they can continue to read, learn, and profit from the Bible even as they continue to wrestle with some of its concepts. One possibility I urge them to consider is that the passage that bothers them might not teach what it appears to them to be teaching. Many of the texts people find offensive can be cleared up with a decent commentary that puts the issue into historical context” (Tim Keller, The Reason for God).

Translated , this means:

“Instead of realizing the Bible is wrong on a topic like sexism against women (which we know it is, but can’t accept since we believe our god inspired it as Capital-T-Truth™), make sure you try really hard to make up a new meaning from the text that isn’t actually there. Don’t let passages bother you if you can explain them away through commentary from a totally non-Biblical human source. We’re Christians. We can rationalize anything” (Godless Girl, who knows bullshit when she reads it).

The author searches high and low for a justification for these passages she believes her deity inspired—all so she wouldn’t have to admit that this is a very good reason to not trust or believe the Bible, the men who wrote it, and the men who want to stay in power in the Church today.

In the end, she finds a way to settle on this belief:

We are all equal in the eyes of God: equally loved, sinful, and redeemed.

And, I suppose, good for her. Equality in all things is how it should be. But since that statement contradicts the practices of the Church and the text of much of the Bible, I don’t think it does quite enough to erase or justify the words of Paul or the practices of Israel. Even though some stories in the Bible portray women as leaders or examples of honor and holiness, there remain many questionable passages that cannot be ignored.

Fundy Quote of the Day

In response to this article (which I have doused with sarcasm, but is actually not bad from an evangelical point of view), of course you’re going to get a few pompous prats who think their dicks make them better than women. Here’s my favorite!:

Come on, let’s get real. Most women simply do not have the same level of mental acuity as most men. They tend to fatuousness, hysteria, shallowness and materialism. I’m sorry, but that’s just the fact. They are the weaker vessel, destined to be led by men. Inspire us, love us, support us, but as for leading, please leave that to the men in your lives who are biologically better suited to that role.
–Andrew Preston Posted: August 04, 2010 10:31 AM

Have you ever noticed that conservative gender roles bear an uncanny resemblance to internet trolling?

Hey there, stranger! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on atheism, religion, and other topics of amusement.

45 thoughts on “Sexism in the Bible”

FOD
· August 6, 2010 at 11:55 am

This is why I cannot align myself with mainstream atheism, even if I do not have any belief in God. And it is because you are unable to read the Bible any differently than the fundamentalist Christian. I tend to agree with the author, even if I am not a Christian. There is probably more going on in the Bible than a simple degradation of women. Sure, you can quote a passage here and there out of context to support your claim, but that is not a responsible way to handle any text whether it is the Bible or not.

So, basically, you have your view of the Bible. You understand exactly what it means, and no other interpretation of it is going to satisfy you. The only thing that makes you different from the fundamentalist is that instead of believing every word of it, you reject every word of it. Either way, you demonstrate a lack of ability to think critically about a text, which is the same problem with the conservative fundamentalists.

And no, I am not a sexist. I want equality for both men and women. But in the end, I really do not care what the Bible teaches on the matter either way, because I do not follow the Bible nor do I hate it. It is just there; something that other people use in their own lives.

There is probably more going on in the Bible than a simple degradation of women.

And I said as much in the blog post.

So, basically, you have your view of the Bible. You understand exactly what it means, and no other interpretation of it is going to satisfy you.

No. Just because this blog post contains sarcasm (which I admitted) and a narrow coverage of the topic (which I also clarified), that doesn’t mean you’re correct in your assumptions about me and my understanding of the Bible.

But thanks for the comment. You do bring up a good general point, and I’d be curious to know what you believe “mainstream atheism” is, since we’re not organized into sects or groups in that way.

“Sure, you can quote a passage here and there out of context to support your claim, but that is not a responsible way to handle any text whether it is the Bible or not.”

I agree that it’s not fair to quote a passage here and there to support a claim in any text. The problem is that this message of women being unequal is present throughout the Bible (not just in a few verses), whereas the nicer parts are only a few verses.

Personally, I think that for other texts, if a character behaved as hatefully as God does in the Bible and Qur’an, people would not go out of their way to makes excuses and pretend that the character is actually good and perfect.

AndrewFinden
· October 7, 2010 at 5:29 am

@FOD – awesome reply and spot on there. Fundies and anti-theists have a habit of sharing the same faulty literalistic hermeneutic which fails to account for the wider contexts of culture, history, meta-narrative, and often, most grievously, for a little thing called genre. To be honest, it’s not so surprising when one realises that many anti-theists are ex-fundies..

Fem
· March 22, 2011 at 9:17 pm

Just a point here … was it not because of the Bible and other religious books “interpreted” in a misogynist manner that led to the subjugation of women for centuries? Before the separation of the Church and State, the rights of women were minimal in any society.

Amy
· August 7, 2010 at 2:22 pm

As a recently deconverted Evangelical missionary, I have to say you nailed this dead-on. To a Bible-believer, who believes that every word of the books is true, one must simply rationalize, rationalize, rationalize the insanity therein. I shared some verses on “God’s” guidelines for how to rape captive women, and how to treat raped women (marry them to their rapsists) from the Old Testament. I’m sure as soon as she Googles some rationalizations, she’ll share them. Until then, it’s written there in black-and-white (and red in some NTs of course).

No, not all Christians believe word-for-word in the Bible, but it’s those who do who are the most vocal about setting up a defacto theocracy in this country, and who have the littlest capacity to reason. I was one, I know.

Hi, Godless Girl! (I got here from Friendly Atheist.) I love this post, and I think you make a good point. Some of the arguments used to make holy books seem good require a person to ignore most of what they say.

David
· August 7, 2010 at 11:14 pm

Amy
· August 8, 2010 at 6:46 am

Exactly.
“But see, the Bible was really an instrument of equality, making the sexes equal in even more sexist times. Let’s just ignore all of those “rapey” parts of the Bible that make God look bad. The Bible isn’t sexist because the Bible is good. . . (except for those sexist, “rapey” parts).”

Mel
· December 28, 2010 at 8:46 am

Hello Amy,

Would you mind providing the verses where God requires, or commands, “rapey” practices?

Thanks

Steven
· August 8, 2010 at 8:35 am

Equality in all things is how it should be. But since that statement contradicts the practices of the Church…

I disagree with the statement that equality of the sexes contradicts the practices of the Church. I think that part of the reason that the author had such an issue with the teaching in this Midwestern community is that she had spent time in a church in New York where this wasn’t the practice, and so it wasn’t something she had to really consider or defend herself against.

Subjugation of women is not a universal practice in the Church. I don’t know if it is the majority practice, but my own admittedly limited experience seems to indicate that equality is practiced in at least a significant minority.

jason
· August 8, 2010 at 3:28 pm

The Bible does not teach sexism, the Bible says that men are to love their wives as Christ loved the church, that is to be willing to die for them. There are many misunderstandings about what the Bible teaches, and just as the Bible says there are many who claim to be Christian who are not. There is a lot of misunderstanding too about what the main message of the Bible is: if you have ever lied, stolen, lusted (which Jesus said is adultery in heart) then the Bible tells us that God is so good and his standard so high that you are a liar, thief, and an adulterer at heart. If you have broken any of the 10 Commandments, of which we’ve covered only 3, then you will be guilty on Judgment day, and when you die you will go to Hell. We need to realze that God is not like us, his standard is much higher than our own, the Bible teaches that whoever hates their brother is a murderer, and that no murderer has eternal life. God is perfect and holy, a human judge wouldn’t be a good judge if he let a rapist and a murderer go free, and God is a good Judge, but he won’t only punish murderers and rapists, but liars, thieves, drunkards, etc. However, God is not only good and just, he is also merciful and loving. He sent his Son, Jesus, to be beaten and slain on the cross. He then rose from the dead the third day defeating death. It was a legal transaction. You broke God’s law, but Jesus paid your fine. Turn from all sin today and trust in Jesus Christ alone (not in any deeds you do, etc.) and God will legally dismiss your case, he will forgive all your sins and grant you everlasting life. Please read the Bible daily and obey what you read. Thank you so much for reading this. (needGod.com is a great site to check out)

So how do you do? God has given you a conscience, con = with, science = knowledge, when you sin you do it with knowledge that it is wrong. Every time you lie, or steal, or lust, do sexual things otuside of marraige, you know its wrong, though it is possible to ignore it and sear your conscience which is also common.

But it is an easy thing to prove that God exists. When you look at a building, how do you know that there was a builder? The building is 100% scientific proof that there was a builder, even if you can’t see him, touch him, taste him, smell him, and don’t know his name, you know there was a builder. The same thing works with paintings. When you look at a painting how do you know there was a painter? The painting is proof there was a painter. Even if someone comes up to you and tells you that they are a painter, and has a brush in their hand, unless they have made a painting, they may not be a painter, but the painting itself proves tehre was a painter.

Creation proves there was a Creator. The laws of thermodynamics as well as other science teaches us that everything was not created by nothing. We also know that the universe cannot be eternal, because it is wearing down, etc. Creation proves there was a Creator, we can’t even comprhend our fully our own bodies, yet we expect God to be easily understood? Our eyes are more sophisticated than any camera lens, and we can’t even make a grain of sand out of nothing, yet somehow all of this came from nothing? You know that that is impossible, and you will try to say that you don’t beleive it came from nothing, because you know that doesn’t make any sense, yet there are many quotes of people saying that everything came from literally nothing, including documentaries on tv that say that.

But you may feel that lying is not that bad, maybe you just told a little white lie, well the Bible says if you have broken one law you are guilty of all. Why is the punishment eternal torments in a lake of fire? Well lets look at it like this: If you were to kill a bug probably no one would care, if you killed a homeless person though you would get into some trouble and go away for a little while, however if you killed the President you would be in huge trouble and go away for a long time. What chagned, it was the same action, you killed something in each instance, what changed was the person against whom you committed the crime.

All sin is against God, that is why the punishment is so high. When you lust, look at pornography, get drunk, lie, etc. you are sinning against the living God. The God that gave you life and breath, food to eat, those you care about, etc. Yet you disdain his name and curse it, use it in vain, and violate his other laws. Yes, God will bring wrath and justice. But thank God he is not only a holy God of righteousness and justice, but also al oving and merciful God, who offers forgiveness to all those who will accept the gift of Jesus Christ by turning from their sins and trusting in Jesus Christ alone. Don’t be fooled, Jesus said that there is he is the way the life and the truth and that no man comes to the Father, but by him. There is one name under heaven where by mean must be saved. And 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 tells us not to be deceived, that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Fornicators, Idolaters, adulterers, drunkards, thieves, covetours, revilers, extortioners, etc. will not inherit the kingdom of God.

I spent most of my life thinking I was saved, but I wasn’t and still lived in sin, as the Bible says I was an enemy of God in my mind though wicked works, and was storing up the wrath of God against myself. The Bible says even the devils believe and tremble, just believing will not save you, you must trust with all your heart.

You are free to do what you will, God has given you that free will, but the day will come that you every tounge will confess and every knee will bow, I hope that you will have turend to God for his great mercy and amazing grace before that day comes, so that you can do it as a saint in light, rather than one headed for eternal destruction.

Please consder these things, nothing is more important, and God doesn’t want you to go to hell, and neither do I.

wow, that’s basically the entire “come to jesus” script. Well done. The problem with those canned evangelical responses is that: we know you don’t care enough to use your own original ideas and personal words & since we’ve heard it (or in my case, said it) before, the likelihood of this being THE MOMENT we would finally buy into the script actually goes down. You all really need some new tactics.

John
· May 19, 2011 at 2:20 pm

We do care; we care a lot. I just want you to know that we love you, even we disagree.

Kyle Atrus
· March 13, 2011 at 8:00 am

It’s pretty much the Ray Comfort script, verbatim. It was a rather disappointing attempt.

John
· May 19, 2011 at 1:58 pm

Jason, God really used you to refresh my soul. Thank you for loving these people enough to share with them the great news that Jesus Christ has given us. I love you, brother in Christ. I’ll be praying for you. Thanks again for standing up for God’s holy name.

Saraid
· May 1, 2015 at 8:04 pm

Jason: There is nothing in the bible which states we have free will. The famous verse “Those he did foreknow he did also predestinate to be the sons of God” and the verse that states that no one can choose God (lest any man should boast)but God chooses people before he made the universe to be saved.

The Greek words used for foreknow and predestinate means special thinking, attention and planning – it means that God specially planned to save some people and ignored the others – it does not mean (as lots of people think) that he simply knew in advance what people of their own free will were going to choose – the actual meaning of the words used eliminate that as a possibility.

So god chooses who he will save (and apparently not many because he said many are called but few are chosen) and no one can choose god if he has not decided that they should. Which kind of takes the bloom off Christ’s sacrifice…he was only dying for those he had already chosen, because he knew the others could not choose him.

So if you are one of the ‘chosen’ ones, then back off the ones that were rejected by God before they were born and condemned to burn in hell for ‘not believing’.

‘God dosent want you to go to hell” Really? God made some people for destruction so he could demonstrate to those he loved just how much he loved them – thats like a parent murdering a child just to show their own child what they would never do to them…

You want to check out my findings? Go ahead, get yourself a KJV and a Strong’s concordance and look every word up (please don’t make the stupid mistake most Christians do of looking up words in an Emglish dictionary, no wonder they don’t get things right) Just remember that the OT words will be in the Hebrew section and the NT words will be Greek.

kyrosion
· August 12, 2010 at 7:35 pm

This sexism, precisely, was the reason I began to question my faith.

I remember being in junior high and, having just sat through a lecture at youth group urging the males among us to consider seminary in their futures, asking my mother one evening at dinner why women couldn’t be priests. The answer I got horrified me. It was something along the lines of “Well, honey, women are more prone to sin, and they can’t lead people the same way men can, and even if some men aren’t fit to be priests and some women are, the fact is that the huge majority of men who want to be priests would make great ones, where the huge majority of women who want the same would be terrible at it and lead people astray.”

My reaction to this was pretty much a toned-down, conservative thirteen-year-old’s version of “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

And then my sister agreed with her. And so did my dad.

That was the seed, and I spent the next three or four years nurturing that skepticism and figuring out what, exactly, I did believe in. I tried my hardest not to disappoint my Catholic family, but the fact of the matter is that what I truly believe in is humanity (though I have my doubting days there, too…) and in science and in what my senses and reason confirm is there. So now I’m 20, and in college studying psychology, and making a life, rather than imagining what’s after.

Just a note: “…making a life, rather than imagining what’s after.”
It’s so powerful my friend. Love it! Thank you. This will be on my twitter and I hope you wouldn’t mind (-:

To the story, I have nothing to add, because all is well said in the article and comments.

Joshua
· August 16, 2010 at 6:43 pm

sigh…

bored
· August 16, 2010 at 6:58 pm

Mothers, don’t let anyone ever dupe you into thinking there’s anything ignoble or disgraceful about remaining at home and raising your family. Don’t buy the lie that you’re repressed if you’re a worker in the home instead of in the world’s workplace. Devoting yourself fully to your role as wife and mother is not repression; it is true liberation. Multitudes of women have bought the world’s lie, put on a suit, picked up a briefcase, dropped their children off for someone else to raise, and gone into the workplace, only to realize after fifteen years that they and their children have a hollow void in their hearts. Many such career women now say they wish they had devoted themselves to motherhood and the home instead.

A woman was given not for a man’s whims but for his character. She elevates him in true masculinity. It takes a woman to make a real man. This is God’s design, and we tamper with it at our peril.

In contrast to the wise woman, the foolish woman is not content to be a keeper at home. She is not satisfied with where God has put her. One of the things the feminist movement has done so successfully is to stir up discontent in women with being homemakers and to convince them that other pursuits can increase their sense of self-worth… Fueling discontent and pushing women out of their homes in search of greater meaning and satisfaction has resulted in off-the-chart stress levels for many women who can no longer survive without pills and therapists… The greatest spiritual, moral, and emotional protection a woman will ever experience is found when she is content to stay within her God-appointed sphere. This does not mean that she never leaves her house, but rather that her heart is rooted in her home and that she puts her family’s needs above all other interests and pursuits.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Im not here to try to shove biblical views in your face, but what Im saying is that, the bible isnt sexist, its the way people try to mold it into a form of sexism, Im not trying to say women are less, Im saying they are equalized with men, to many people try to put that view there, your a very smart girl, and it was a great article but, somtimes the faithless will change the bible to somthing its not. If you hate me for what I view thats cool, thats you know, ok i guess ill go now, see ya, God bless you all, bye

We don’t need to mold the bible into a form of sexism. You’ve already done all the work for us.

Mel
· December 28, 2010 at 9:30 am

Bored,

I understand where you are coming from. I work outside of the home because my household can not afford me not to. I yearn to be home and raise my children, keep the home and reach my community. Right now, I’m not able to give enough to those things because I work full time.

Only an understanding heart will get it, though – along with everything else. Women are very important to God. When Job was attacked by satan, and he was given reign to destroy Job (that one will fuel the athiest’s fire, lol) All his children were killed, but not the wife. When you marry, you and your spouse become one. Equal parts that mesh in to one.

I have a healthy and extremely happy marriage. My husband does not treat me as if I’m not equal to him. I don’t know of any of the relationships of my Christian friends that are not like ours. Some it seems the women are in charge, lol.

A true heart understands God as much as our minds are able. There is nothing we can say or do to make someone “get it”. Only the spirit can.

When God healed my hand while I was in a prayer group, I did not ask for it, expect it, even think to want it. He healed me instantly and other’s felt it. The “energy” ran through my body and up the arms of other’s that were touching me. I heard them say, “wow, did you feel that?!” I didn’t tell anyone I was healed – except my husband – until a couple of weeks later.

God is good and just. It’s not what nonbeliever consider just. Their just is more to satisfy themselves. Really think about it, it is.

Off the subject here – A couple of clicks and I happened upon this site, but it seems atheists obsess over God for not believing He sure gets a lot of your time and mind space. I mean I don’t like Honda’s, but I don’t dedicate blogs to it, or flood the comment sections of pro-Honda articles. Just saying. I’m curious to why so much of a nonbeliever’s time if given away to something they don’t believe. Care to comment?

Hi there. Thanks for stopping by to tell your story. I’ve decided to write a blog post addressing your comment about God’s justice. Perhaps you’ll come back and comment on that once it’s up.

Oh, and P.S. Why do atheists spend so much time critiquing Christianity? Because it’s begging for it; It needs to be challenged, discussed, and debated; Because I was a Christian for 20 years and it was people like me, an outspoken atheist, who finally gave my robotic brain the encouragement it needed to think critically about the delusions and the myths to which I was so dedicated.

But that’s just me.

Mel
· December 28, 2010 at 5:38 pm

Hello Godless Girl,

Thank you for your reply. I truly appreciate your time. I have asked myself that question on several occasions. I’ve read articles that have been Christian themed and it is speckled with Atheist comments all through the comment sections. It seems more like an obsession than trying to “save” the “foolish”. I must say, they are typically mean-spirited. I didn’t find that here, which is nice. It could be mainly because most of your readers are like-minded individuals.

I’ve read a couple of your posts, and I did enjoy the challenge. It helps strengthen my beliefs, so thank you for that! You are a talented and humorous writer. I appreciate that.

I was an Atheist for a long time. I grew up in a Catholic home, but we hardly went to church and didn’t have religion as a foundation in our upbringing. I can remember at a very young age believing in God, because it was the only thing that could possibly make sense. I was like three or so; very young. When I got older people, like yourself, convinced me that there was no God. I was an Atheist for a long time.

I will not go into my finding my way back and how it was as clear as day, still is (I’ll say science had a big part to do with it :)), because I don’t want to put you through reading all of that. I can say though, as an Atheist I didn’t have the obsession I see with many. I didn’t have to prove why I didn’t believe. I just lived my life. I didn’t pray or consider the eternal consequences, any consequences half the time :). If you don’t believe why give so much of yourself to something you do not believe??

I’m sorry you were robotic in your beliefs. No one should be robotic, or subjugated to dogmatic jargon. You should question the teachings. The bible even tells you that. There are a lot of churches out there that lead people in the wrong way: Mis-quoting scriptures to get “their beliefs across, the “feel good” churches where if you do it their way and you will never feel pain or sadness or (love this one) you’ll be rewarded with riches… It’s very important to study the bible independently. Develop your personal relationship with God. I’ve yet to hear of a person that became Atheist because God pushed them away. Either they have become offended because of expectations THEY placed on someone or somewhere, or they’ve allowed someone, like yourself, to convince them otherwise.

See, I ended up typing a lot anyway… I’ll cut myself off now. 😉

Oh, and I’d love to read your post about God’s justice. I bet it will be an interesting one!

We focus so much on theism, especially Christianity, because our culture is SO steeped in it. We cannot escape the theistic mindset.

We fight because we believe in the separation of church and state, because we believe in the truth of science, and because we believe in rational thought. Christian theism so often stands in direct opposition to these ideas.

John
· May 19, 2011 at 2:22 pm

Mel,

Thank you so much for standing up for what you believe. You have been a Godly encourager and comforter that Christ has used in my life. Stay strong in your faith, and know that what you’re doing and saying is helping people know and trust God more.

Sincerely,
John

John
· May 19, 2011 at 2:54 pm

I almost forgot, Bored, thank you for also standing up for what you believe in. That was also very encouraging to hear!

I’ve seen a lot of fundamentalists rationalize disturbing Bible passages. On one hand, they need to believe that the Bible is true in order to maintain their belief system. (Or, they may believe that they’ll be damned if they allow any doubt to creep into their minds.) On their other hand, their modern moral sensibilities recoil from BIble passages that are sexist, nonsensical, or brutal. Their answer is to do mental acrobatics until they can make the Bible say something halfway palatable.

Frederick Añana
· November 19, 2010 at 5:10 am

According to 1 Timothy 2:11–12: “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. ”

Centuries ago, during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire, there were no female rulers with solo authority over their kingdom.

This may be just ONE of the reasons why ENGLAND founded the Anglican Church, so that Queen Elizabeth could legally reign as an UNMARRIED ruler.

England separated from Rome over an issue of divorce during the reign of King Henry VIII. Henry wanted to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to marry Anne Boleyn. It wasn’t even a matter of church doctrine, the Pope at the time was Catherine’s nephew so there were family and political reasons for his now allowing the annulment of the marriage.

Mel
· December 28, 2010 at 9:52 am

This is the opinion of Paul. Paul and Peter disagreed in some teachings.

In my generation and in the culture I grew up in and am now an adult in, I don’t think there is a problem with women leading. I believe women have truly been called upon by God to lead.

Fem
· March 22, 2011 at 9:29 pm

English law allowed women to be the sovereign, unlike German and French laws. But on the other hand, Catholic Spain also allowed having female monarchs.

And if you are equating Anglicanism with lack of sexism, at that time the Anglican church was only part of the Lutheran reformation. And Luther also put women’s place in the home, like most men of his time.

Sandra
· December 1, 2010 at 12:22 pm

I want to tell you a little bit about myself first and then explain where I stand on sexism in the bible. I am a stay at home mom. My kids have never spent a day in daycare. This is very important to my husband and I. My husband comes home from work every day to give our kids and I love and attention. I am anti-abortion except in cases of rape, incest, health etc. I believe men and women were created equally but differently. I believe our differences unite us in marriage and can be beautiful and fun and funny. You might draw conclusions about me from this info, but let me tell you my take on the bible. I do believe in God, I also believe that the men who wrote the Old Testament were very hardened against women and blamed women for a lot of their problems which I don’t find very masculine. I believe that the bible is not the complete word of God, but a story of people who at times wanted to know God and at other times wanted to make up their own rules. I don’t understand why God hasn’t helped women more as in making sure his bible wasn’t corrupted, thus leading women to be abused by inaccurate statements about marriage and women in general. For instance, men are called fathers in the bible just for procreating with women. Whether the woman is the man’s first wife, 50th wife, or a concubine. A man who donates his sperm to form a child and leaves the women to raise the children is creating bastard children. One man can not possibly fullfill the emotional and spiritual needs of the amount of wives, concubines and children many of the old testament, “men of God” had. In otherwords, what is the difference between a prostitute and her bastard child from a man that is careless about the needs of women and children and takes on more than he can handle. My husband is a Christian and he reveres theses men of old. But I look at my husband and feel and know in my heart that he is a better man, more masculine and stronger than any of these men from the bible. It is interesting to note that the bible in the new testament says that Abrahams’ seed had to go through Sarah, his true wife because the other women he had a son with was a “bondwomen” in otherwords, she wasn’t free, she was a slave. The new testment talks a lot about freedom vs. slavery. Many women were treated like slaves in the old testament including men. Many men did not “cleave” unto their wives as the first commandment of men was given. These are my thoughts!

I have long had an issue with the sexist views of most people in Christianity, and often struggled with the sexist undertones of the Bible. The things I saw in scripture, and taught by the church didn’t mesh with what I saw about how things actually work.

Of course, that was par for the course with me and religion. It bothered me when people would rationalize away these sorts of dysfunctions between the Bible and reality. I would see it and wonder, and the answers I would find from the trusted theological sources didn’t make sense. Somehow, I was able to hold the view that what I saw in the world was correct alongside the view that what the scriptures said and the church taught were also true.

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The moral truth here is obvious: anyone who feels that the interests of a blastocyst just might supersede the interests of a child with a spinal cord injury has had his moral sense blinded by religious metaphysics.

— Sam Harris

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